Chapter 7: Do You Have Any Objections?

After learning about the cultivation space, Huo Zun no longer needed to inquire about other matters. Without even greeting Zhen Nantian, he flew straight into Tingfeng Residence.
Zhen Nantian, on the other hand, stared with wide eyes, bit his thick lips, and trembled as his protruding belly shook, before reluctantly flying back to his own residence.
“That guy clearly only has the cultivation level of a Human Immortal. Why do I feel he has the strength to rival me?”
“A newcomer dares to call me fat—quite bold. If he really has talent in artifact refinement, I might consider investing effort in training him.”
“Which faction does this Huo Zun belong to? How can a mere one-star Human Soul Immortal possess over thirty thousand Origin Stones?”
“That kid is really good at bluffing. He claims he can finish studying all of Tongzhou Hall’s formations in just a year. Is it ignorance, or does he really hide great abilities?”
……
As soon as Zhen Nantian returned to his room, he sat down and his thoughts grew even more interested in Huo Zun. Of course, he immediately used his immortal sense to send a message to one of his disciples, ordering him to copy all the formations in Juehuo Peak and deliver them to Huo Zun the next day.
※※※
On Duohuo Peak, its master, Leng Gu, had also returned to his residence. This time, Leng Gu sent his disciple Xiao Qiang to recruit new members. He had originally hoped to bring in the best newcomers for his own artifact refinement peak, only to find that Zhen Nantian had beaten him to it by going to Chuci Pavilion first.
“That Zhen Nantian is truly infuriating. He even dared to act presumptuously against me. This time, I must snatch all the tasks from Juehuo Peak so that his peak won’t get a single artifact refinement task,” Leng Gu vented.
Just then, Xiao Qiang entered.
“Master, should we go argue with the hall master? Since he agreed to let me recruit newcomers, it means he wants Duohuo Peak to get the best ones. That Zhen Nantian used tricks to take away Huo Zun. We can ask the hall master to uphold justice and bring Huo Zun back,” Xiao Qiang suggested carefully.
Xiao Qian also liked Huo Zun somewhat, so he wanted to help him join Duohuo Peak, the strongest peak in Tongzhou Hall. He took this opportunity to offer advice.
Leng Gu glanced at Xiao Qiang, shook his head, and smiled, “Xiao Qiang, that damn fat guy Zhen Nantian has always been frustrated. Among our eighteen peaks, his task completion rank is thirteenth. This time, he’s even lost face. He wants to steal an excellent disciple to help Juehuo Peak complete more tasks, so that he can show off his power at the future meetings of the peak masters.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiang’s expression tightened; he realized Leng Gu didn’t want to go retrieve the Fire Lord.
“Xiao Qiang, even the Fire Lord can’t restore Zhen Nantian’s reputation. The reason our Fire Seizing Peak ranks first among the eighteen peaks is because we have far more outstanding disciples than any other peak. Xiao Qiang, our Tongzhou Hall has been able to establish itself on Zhu Yan Star thanks to the unity of everyone in our sect. We peak masters can tease each other occasionally, but we must never be hostile to one another—that would only lead to our own destruction,” Leng Gu said seriously again.
Xiao Qiang immediately wiped his forehead, feeling uneasy and a bit aggrieved.
“I only suggested it after hearing your harsh words just now. And now, here you are, using this as an opportunity to scold me,” Xiao Qiang complained inwardly.
Leng Gu smiled at Xiao Qiang, as if knowing what he was thinking, and said, “Xiao Qiang, geniuses all have their own temper. That Fire Lord has extraordinary talent. If he finds no place to showcase his abilities at the Fire Extinguishing Peak, he will surely try to leave. Xiao Qiang, I think that Fire Lord has a good impression of you. Try to get closer to him regularly. There’s no need to deliberately persuade him to come over; just wait until he wants to leave on his own, and then you can play the emotional card.”
Hearing this, Xiao Qiang understood that his master still really wanted to bring the Fire Lord over.
“Okay, master. I’ll keep in touch with the Fire Lord from now on,” Xiao Qiang said happily.
Leng Gu nodded.
※※※
Fire Extinguishing Peak, Tingfeng Residence.
A young man dressed in bright red quickly landed on the ground and shouted, “Fire Lord, it’s Song Tao. My master sent me to deliver the formation jade slips.”
It turned out to be a disciple of Zhen Nantian, who had brought the formation jade slips the Fire Lord wanted, as scheduled.
The Fire Lord immediately flew out of Tingfeng Residence and landed in front of Song Tao, smiling. “Song Tao, your chubby master is really efficient. He promised to deliver the formation jade slips in a day, and he indeed kept his word.”
Song Tao stared at the Fire Lord in disbelief, his eyes wide open.
Master… chubby?
Song Tao couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The Fire Lord, a newcomer to the Fire Extinguishing Peak and merely a one-star Human Soul Immortal, dared to call the peak master chubby.
“Oh… these are the jade slips.” Nervously, Song Tao quickly took out the formation jade slips, eager to leave that place right away.

Song Tao also guessed that this Fire Lord must have some unspoken understanding with his own master, Zhen Nantian; otherwise, how could they be so well-matched? Therefore, Song Tao didn’t want to inquire about the reason nor get involved, to avoid trouble.

The Fire Lord took the twenty jade slips and, smiling, flew away without saying a word to Song Tao.

Just as the Fire Lord was about to use his immortal perception to scan the contents of the jade slips, Xiao Qiang arrived on his starship.

“Fire Lord, I’m here! You must be happy, right?” Xiao Qiang called out enthusiastically from the air.

It seemed the two of them were already close friends who had shared life and death together, as Xiao Qiang quickly forged a relationship with him.

Seeing Xiao Qiang approaching, the Fire Lord thought for a moment and realized that Xiao Qiang must have been sent by Leng Gu. He understood Leng Gu’s intentions and couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. Since he had chosen the Extinct Fire Peak, he naturally intended to strengthen it—not consider moving to another peak.

No matter how many difficulties lie ahead, I will face them head-on.

The Fire Lord steadied his mind, waited for the starship to land, and said with a smile, “Xiao Qiang, you’ve come at just the right time. I want to go to the cultivation space of the Tongzhou Hall. Take me there.”

Xiao Qiang, who was about to leave the starship, stumbled, steadied himself, and exclaimed in surprise, “Fire Lord, just two days after joining the Tongzhou Hall, you already want to enter the cultivation space? Do you know that it takes ten points to gain one day of cultivation time? You don’t have any points now, so you can’t enter. Oh… don’t look at me like that. My points aren’t even enough for my own cultivation—I certainly won’t give them to you.”

Xiao Qiang grew uneasy. He had originally wanted to build a good relationship with the Fire Lord, but now he was worried that the Fire Lord might take advantage of him to demand his points.

Points were hard-earned—after ten years of completing crafting tasks, Xiao Qiang had only obtained a little over three hundred points, which he was reluctant to spend. How could he let the Fire Lord get them so easily?

The Fire Lord looked at Xiao Qiang and burst into laughter. After a while, he calmed down and said with a smile, “Xiao Qiang, don’t worry. I don’t even care about those few points you have. Enough talk—take me to the cultivation space.”

Seeing that his points were safe, Xiao Qiang relaxed, but became even more curious.

“Fire Lord, you don’t have any points. What are you going to do in the cultivation space? Ah… could it be that you have many Origin Stones?” Xiao Qiang suddenly remembered and shouted almost in a roar.

Xiao Qiang remembered that when recruiting Fire Lord in Sea Blue City, the annual salary offered was only three hundred Origin Stones. Thus, he assumed that Fire Lord must have very few Origin Stones, otherwise he wouldn’t be satisfied with just three hundred. At that moment, Xiao Qiang recalled that cultivation spaces could also be used to exchange Origin Stones for cultivation time. Seeing Fire Lord’s determined expression, he immediately realized that Fire Lord must possess many Origin Stones. Fire Lord nodded and smiled, saying, “Is there any need to be so surprised? Just take me there—stop talking nonsense.” Without hesitation, Fire Lord flew into the starship by himself. In a dazed state, Xiao Qiang controlled the starship and flew into the air, soon arriving at the main peak of Tongzhou Hall, where Hall Master Yun Zhouzi resided. The peak resembled a burning flame tower, towering ten thousand meters high. “Fire Lord, you’re going to Extreme Fire Peak. Why don’t you learn array formations first? Why are you in such a hurry to enter the cultivation space to improve your cultivation?” Xiao Qiang asked as soon as he stepped out of the starship and landed on the ground. Fire Lord chuckled calmly and said, “Xiao Qiang, I’ve already brought all the array formations for Extreme Fire Peak with me. I plan to study them while cultivating in the cultivation space.” Hearing this, Xiao Qiang immediately jumped up and almost roared, “Fire Lord, you’re really too extravagant! Don’t you know that we people of Tongzhou Hall have accumulated points over decades just to get a year in the cultivation space to break through to the next level? The cultivation space is the best place for cultivation—yet you’re wasting it on learning array formations! It’s heartbreaking!” It turned out that the cultivation space greatly helped cultivators comprehend the power of the Origin. For example, when Xiao Qiang was still a First-Star Human Soul Immortal, he had accumulated fifty years’ worth of points, which was enough to gain a year in the cultivation space, allowing him to break through to a Second-Star Human Soul Immortal. Thus, Xiao Qiang had risen from the first star to the second in just over fifty years—a speed that would be considered genius-level even on Zhu Yan Star. All this was due to the uniqueness of the cultivation space. The ordinary people immortals on Zhu Yan Star were eager to join the three major forces precisely because they all had cultivation spaces that could help them improve their cultivation rapidly. Otherwise, ordinary people immortals would need thousands, even tens of thousands of years, just to rise by one star. Now, hearing that Fire Lord wanted to dawdle in the cultivation space and even spare time to learn array formations was utterly incomprehensible to Xiao Qiang.

“I have plenty of Origin Stones; I can use them however I want. Do you have any objections?” Fire Lord replied directly.
Xiao Qiang was stunned, his eyes almost popping out.
Fire Lord acted as if he hadn’t seen Xiao Qiang’s reaction, smiled faintly, and walked off toward a 100-meter-wide cave entrance on the mountainside ahead—where the cultivation space was located.